


A Gradual Unmasking

by strawberriesandtophats



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 23:04:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11724435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberriesandtophats/pseuds/strawberriesandtophats
Summary: The art of always surprising the audience was a multilayered job. One could not simply act a certain way and make one’s jumps a little bit different in each competition. That was not enough.Victor had built and torn down thousands of identities during practice, with their own personality traits and likes and reactions. Most of them were superficial, only lasting a few hours, some even minutes. With time, it became a habit.





	A Gradual Unmasking

The art of always surprising the audience was a multilayered job. One could not simply act a certain way and make one’s jumps a little bit different in each competition. That was not enough.

Victor had built and torn down thousands of identities during practice, with their own personality traits and likes and reactions. Most of them were superficial, only lasting a few hours, some even minutes. With time, it became a habit.

The costumes played a part, allowing him to embody the identity he’d taken on for the duration of the current competition. It was always a different identity, polished to perfection. It only had to be real for the duration of the song.

So when he’d sat down beside Yuuri, it had felt perfectly natural to ask him what Yuuri wanted him to be to him. He’d been acting almost all his life, putting on different masks for different relationships and occasions.

Victor had given Yuuri options, identities which would have certain reactions to Yuuri’s emotions and actions. They were roles, at their core.

Surely, Yuuri must know all about roles. When he’s on the ice during competitions, he’s so different from when he’s not.

But Yuuri had looked alarmed at the very thought of him playing a role and told him to be himself. The thought of being himself was odd. He’d been skating since he could remember, not taking breaks, never vacationing or skipping practice. He’d left behind the thought of having a life or someone to love besides Makkachin a long time ago. Desiring those things had been something far away that could wait until he could no longer skate.

They sat together for a while, feeling the cool breeze. That night, Victor had flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes. He had breathed and put his hand to his temple, pulling at thin air as if he was taking off an invisible mask. He repeated the movement until he could no longer feel weight between his fingers, until there were no masks left.

The masks were discarded on the floor, never to be picked up again.

Victor let himself drift off, feeling raw and laid bare, like a crab that had lived inside his shell for such a long time that the outside world was almost a new experience.

Before, the only one he’d allowed himself to see him like this was Makkachin. And he’d been running all this life, away from anything that could disqualify him when it came to skating. Including himself.

But that was just the thing, he was no longer skating. He’d removed himself from the game as much as he could, so that he could breathe.

And now he’d been given permission to be himself. Victor fought the urge to pick up one of the masks, even if they were invisible, and dust it off before putting it back on. If he was going to get to know what life was like outside the bubble of his celebrity skating life, he had to live it as himself.

The days passed, and Victor felt himself settle. Yuuri was clearly pleased that Victor was enthusiastic about the local food and the town as well as his job as a coach. There was no need to make himself a new identity, because there was no demand for it.

And later on, when Yuuri slid a gold ring on his finger, there were no doubts lingering in Victor’s mind that he’d tricked Yuuri into loving him by displaying false emotions and reactions. Yuuri had responded to Victor’s own personality by loving him. Yuuri had seen him, and continued to love him.

The rest of their friends had adjusted, smiling and wondering at this new side of Victor. But most of them had just shrugged and made comments about how love and some time off could have had all this effect on him.

The flowers and chocolate boxes Victor had been presented with when he’d been using other identities when skating paled in comparison to the grin on Yuuri’s face in their hotel room after the Grand Prix finals.

Everything else paled in comparison. Absolutely everything.

 


End file.
